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The first peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) for children was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020. While clinical efficacy is established, evidence on cost-effectiveness-whether the benefits outweigh the costs and adverse effects-remains limited. A variant of OIT, known as probiotic and peanut OIT (PPOIT), has shown similar efficacy in trials.
In the austral summer of 2021-2022, Australia experienced an unprecedented Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) outbreak, with detections over 3000 km south of previous occurrences. Given the limited knowledge of JEV transmission ecology in Australia, we developed geospatial models of transmission risk to support the public health response. We created time-varying habitat suitability models for suspected mosquito vectors and ardeid hosts using month-scaled occurrence and covariate data from 2000-2023.
Serosurveys are considered as a valuable tool in estimating population immunity and infection rates but recruitment of children to provide paediatric estimates can be challenging. A novel approach of sampling children undergoing anaesthesia was utilised for a SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey in Australian children and we explore the reasons for participation, feedback on the approach and importance of research into Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19).
Type 1 interferons (T1IFNs) are typically expressed in low concentrations under homeostatic conditions, but upon pathogenic insult or perturbation of the pathway, these critical immune signaling molecules can become either protectors from or drivers of pathology. While essential for initiating antiviral defense and modulating inflammation, dysregulation of T1IFN signaling can contribute to immunopathology, making it and its associated pathways prime targets for immune evasion and disruption by pathogens.
Acute rheumatic fever is a preventable condition that can lead to chronic illness and early death. Standard prevention with 4-weekly intramuscular (IM) benzathine penicillin G (BPG) injections for ≥10 years may be associated with poor adherence. High-dose 10-weekly subcutaneous penicillin injections (SCIP) may improve adherence by reducing injection frequency.
Acute rheumatic fever is an immune-mediated condition triggered by Streptococcus pyogenes sore throat and possibly skin infection, with a substantial burden in resource-limited settings. Clinical decision rules (CDRs) are commonly used to guide antibiotic treatment of sore throat based on signs and symptoms, but their diagnostic accuracy varies by study and setting. This work aimed to assess the accuracy of multiple CDRs in Fiji to diagnose S. pyogenes sore throat.
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) has been linked to vertical transmission, but systematic data are scarce. We aimed to describe the sociodemographic, clinical, and virological characteristics and assess the frequency and determinants of adverse outcomes in pregnant women with MPXV clade I infection.
Accumulating evidence indicates that antibiotic exposure may lead to impaired vaccine responses, however the mechanisms underlying this association remain poorly understood. Here we prospectively followed 191 healthy, vaginally born, term infants from birth to 15 months, using a systems vaccinology approach to assess the effects of antibiotic exposure on immune responses to vaccination.
Fear of severe adverse reaction (SAR) and reluctance of health care providers to administer intramuscular injections are major contributing factors to poor adherence of benzathine penicillin G (BPG) in the management of rheumatic heart disease (RHD). However, data on the risk of SARs following BPG injections for RHD are relatively limited and inconclusive. Our systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the incidence of SARs associated with BPG injections used for secondary prophylaxis of RHD.
Cases identified through mass testing represent only a fraction of infections, depending on the propensity of infected individuals to seek testing. Quantifying the variation in test-seeking behaviour through time or between population subgroups provides important information on testing uptake and supports epidemiological analyses of case data that may otherwise be biased.